Fact Check, Please!

The Russian Twitter Bots that generate the fakenews content for the Lake County Gazette have hacked the Chicago Tribune.

See for yourself ...


Regarding the 2018 election results, Lake County GOP Chairman Mark Shaw told the Tribune:

Turning to specific results, Shaw pointed out that Republicans "managed to maintain the same number of elected officials from Lake County representing us in the Illinois General Assembly."
'Results were not what we wanted to see': Lake County Republican chair reflects on election

The Facts:

Lake County has 5 Illinois Senate seats. None were flipped.

Lake County has 9 Illinois Legislative seats. No Democratic seat flipped. But Republican Sheri Jesiel was defeated. And Republican Helene Walsh currently trails in the vote count. At least 1 and very likely 2 legislative seats will have flipped from Republican to Democrat in Lake County.

The Verdict:

Four Pinocchios

Regarding the Lake County board, the Tribune said:

Lake County followed McHenry into new territory, with both of its county boards now featuring a Democratic majority.
'Results were not what we wanted to see': Lake County Republican chair reflects on election

The Facts:

The Lake County board will have a Democratic majority. The McHenry County board, however, will not. It is not expected to flip any time before the 2100s.

The Verdict:

Four Pinocchios

Regarding the future:

Mark Shaw, chairman of the Lake County Republican Central Committee (LCRCC), said in a post on the group's Facebook page that local Republicans should still hold their head up high.
'Results were not what we wanted to see': Lake County Republican chair reflects on election

The Facts:

This one does not pass the laugh test.

The Verdict:

Four Pinocchios

Note to Ops: Don't let the Russian Twitter Bots infiltrate your news server!

Make a Clean Breast of It

In preparation for Halloween, the Chicago Tribune has been channelling Helene Walsh. They scrubbed their website.

As readers of this blog are aware,

Does BGLCC Stand for NSFW?

the Tribune ran a story about a pornographic website that had been spoofing the Buffalo Grove-Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce.

The Trib story contained a hotlink to the website in question. And by hotlink, your LakeCountyEye means an active hyperlink to a XXX hardcore pornsite.

Now having, erm, blown the whistle, your LakeCountyEye observes that the hyperlink to the pornsite has been disabled in the Chicago Tribune story:

Fake website displaying obscene content taken down by Buffalo Grove-Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce

Note to Ops: Are there any other pornsite links remaining on the Internet? Just askin!

Does BGLCC Stand for NSFW?

Look out Pornhub, the Chicago Tribune is breathing down your neck.

The Buffalo Grove-Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce website was hijacked by a pornsite and the Chicago Tribune was on the story:

Rife with obscene content and, at one time, the face of President Donald Trump, a fake website that claimed to represent the Buffalo Grove-Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce has been taken down weeks after officials discovered it.
Fake website displaying obscene content taken down by Buffalo Grove-Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce

Note to Ops: Don't you just hate when this happens to you? Your LakeCountyEye certainly does.

According to the Tribune:

the chamber managed to shut down the site 24 hours after filing a complaint on Sept. 14 with the hosting company
Fake website displaying obscene content taken down by Buffalo Grove-Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce

What makes this a man-bites-dog story (and not merely a dog-bites-man story) are the hyperlinks that are posted on the Tribune's website. Here is an actual unredacted screen cap from the Chicago Tribune story:

The fake website is circled above.

Spoiler Alert: Contrary to what the Tribune story implies, the hyperlink is active. And there is a reason why the hyperlink has not been posted on this blog.

Nuff said!

Zornswoggled

Well on his way by now to the Governor's mansion, Lake County favorite son Kash Jackson -- née Benjamin Winderweedle -- picked up some earned media from the Chicago Tribune:

Why would a politician change his name from Benjamin Winderweedle to Kash Jackson? I'm hard pressed to come up with a better ballot name than Winderweedle.
Campaign curiosities: Why not 'Winderweedle'?

If your spider-sense is all tingly with deja-vu, that's because you remember this LakeCountyEye story:

A ballot-name like Winderweedle comes along once in a lifetime. Could you resist casting your vote for the guy named Winderweedle? Your LakeCountyEye could not.
Wither Winderweedle

That sounds a lot like your LakeCountyEye. Has the Chicago Tribune -- née Eric Zorn -- been datamining your LakeCountyEye for ideas?

There are some differences. The Chicago Tribune made this crack about Kash Jackson's name:

Kash Jackson sounds to me more like a mixed martial arts fighter than a public official.
Campaign curiosities: Why not 'Winderweedle'?

While your LakeCountyEye likened Kash Jackson's name to a role in a porn movie:

Appearances to the contrary, Kash Jackson is not the name of a character in the new Stormy Daniels movie. No, Kash Jackson is is the name of Lake County favorite-son and candidate for Governor.
Wither Winderweedle

Note to Ops: How many times has this happened to you? Your are watching porn. Someone walks into the room. You quickly click to the mixed martial arts channel.

Just Sayin!

Your LakeCountyEye: Ripped off by the Chicago Tribune since September 2018.

Fathead

Lake County's U.S. Senator Mark Kirk was caught, on-the-record again, saying something thoughtless ...

At one point, Duckworth talked about her family's long history of involvement in the U.S. military, describing herself as a "daughter of the American Revolution" who has "bled for this nation." When it was Kirk's turn to offer a rebuttal, he offered a single sentence: "I had forgotten that your parents came all the way from Thailand to serve George Washington."
More aggressive Kirk goes after Duckworth in second debate, questions her family's heritage

To illustrate the story, the Chicago Tribune chose this AP feed photo ...

Note to Mark Kirk for Senate Campaign Operatives. Maybe you should think about providing the Tribune with a good press photo of the boss ...

Just sayin!

You Said "Johnson"

Q:	Take away his unbelievably fabulous supermodel trophywife from Donald Trump and what do you have left?
A:	Gary Johnson

Haha, Libertarian Candidate for President Gary Johnson has been in the news lately. More specifically, in the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune (which had endorsed Donald Trump wannabee Bruce Rauner for Governor in 2014) blinked -- and declined to endorse Donald Trump for President. Then the Tribune blinked again and endorsed Gary Johnson.

The thinking in Tribune Tower, apparently, is that the enemy of your enemy is not Hillary Clinton. No, that person is a Libertarian candidate -- one who will not poll any better than another spoiler candidate, Ralph Nader, did in the 2000 Presidential Election.

The blogosphere was none too pleased:

LOL! Chicago Tribune tells its readers to vote for Gary Johnson

Trump drives the media nuts, literally: The Chicago Tribune’s delusional Gary Johnson endorsement is a symptom of a deeper illness

What the Hell Is the Chicago Tribune Thinking?
A Gary Johnson endorsement? Really?

On behalf of 400 lb bloggers, on beds throughout the blogosphere, your LakeCountyEye's subscription to the Tribune would have immediately been cancelled. Had there been one.

Sources tell your LakeCountyEye, however, that the Trump for President campaign reads this blog every day. So your LakeCountyEye thought up ten insulting names to call the Chicago Tribune.

Go nuts, Donald:

The 10 Absolute Classiest Sarcastic Names for the Chicago Tribune

Chicago Buffoon Chicago Poltroon Chicago Silver Spoon Chicago Looneytoon Chicago Hot Air Balloon Chicago Jejune Chicago Full Moon Chicago Picayune Chicago Hockey Goon Chicago Douche Platoon

Look for your LakeCountyEye spoon 'neath the moon in June near you.

Paper Over the Cracks

If Video Killed the Radio Star, then the Internet is well on its way to killing the Print Newspaper.

Haha, the day may arrive sooner than later, at least in Lake County. Rumor has it that the Koch brothers are going to buy the Chicago Tribune. Not just a copy of the newspaper, but the whole enchilada: the Tribune Company.

The Koch brothers own Koch Industries, which makes Angel Soft and Quilted Northern toilet paper. Industry sources tell your LakeCountyEye that the Koch brothers have discovered they can produce toilet paper at significantly cheaper costs by recycling hot-off-the-press Chicago Tribunes. If a deal goes through, this either means that actual physical copies of the Chicago Tribune will disappear from the newsstand. Or that readers will be able to enjoy the Tribune's creepy political cartoonist -- Ron Stantis -- when visiting the throneroom in the morning. Neither possibility exactly bowls your LakeCountyEye over.

Operatives are advised to look for some significant revisions between the sheets at their new Mother-of-Pearl Tribune.The Koch brothers, who want build up a younger readership, are expected to fire the Tribune's long-time publisher Col. McCormick and replace him with the trend-setting Mr. Whipple.  Also do not be surprised to see your Trib delivered to your stoop by your Roto-Rooter Man.  It goes without saying that the Tribune Tower henceforward shall be known as the Tribune Porcelain Tower.

The Koch brothers -- no friends of organized labor -- see all this as an opportunity to break the powerful Typesetters Union.  One source told your LakeCountyEye that they would much rather deal with the Plumbers Union instead -- who they privately regard as a bunch of pantywaists.

Expect the deal to impact popular culture as well. The children in Chicago's schoolyards are going to have to come up with a new punchline to that old joke:

What is black and white and red all over?

And if things just couldn't get any worse ...

Before: After: These are not photos of Truman's first and second terms. This is actually another hilarious LakeCountyEye Double Vision™!

In the future, look for your LakeCountyEye in loo of your Tribune.

The Junior G-Man

Is it sweetest day or something? The Chicago Tribune yesterday sent an unabashed front-page valentine to Senator Mark Kirk:

U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk using gravitas of office to influence home-state politics, policy
He's restoring the traditional role of Illinois' junior senator, he says

Asked by the Tribune for some thoughts on the US Senate, Kirk took the opportunity to blow his own horn:

"It provides that the senator who is mainstream and can work with Republicans and Democrats, who is well-grounded in facts, figures and preparation with the administration, can move the whole Senate toward what is in your state's interest," he said.

Kirk may fancy himself as a modern-day boy-wonder Robin to Senator Dick Durbin's Batman:

"So it's been awhile since we've had a full dynamic duo, Republican and Democrat, senior working national and junior working local."

Is there any wonder the Tribune holds feelings such as these for Illinois's self-proclaimed junior Senator? If they still made those laminating machines, that brooding Kirk photo would now be in the LakeCountyEye wallet. Pensive, but steely-serious -- backlit and against a brick backdrop shot at a noirish angle -- Kirk is hands-down the James Dean of the US Senate. Your LakeCountyEye only wishes there were more photos like this to be had. Many more.

An open request to the Senator, and all Illinois elected officials: Blogging is a lonely avocation, please send your photos to ...

LakeCountyEye@gmail.com

Your LakeCountyEye has yet to meet the politician who can't resist casting an admiring eye toward the mirror, or an admiring camera lens. These might be grainy Blackberry photos, or candid shots from the gym, or just relaxing in the jacuzzi, your LakeCountyEye doesn't mind. Send photos to ...

LakeCountyEye@gmail.com

Utmost discretion is 100% guaranteed!

The Chicago Tribune Creepy Cartoonist™ Breeds the Screaming Memes

Your LakeCountyEye is thinking of switching to a decaffeinated blend; breakfast is definitely not for the faint of heart when it comes to reading the Chicago Tribune:

Chicago Tribune, 05/31/2011

Is this a sign from the Chicago Tribune Creepy Cartoonist™ that Halloween or Armageddon is supposed to come early this year, or something?

Anyways, here's the cellphone photo of your LakeCountyEye this morning, caught off guard:

From now on, your LakeCountyEye plans to Munch down on a heapin' bowl of Count Chocula or Franken Berry before going again anywhere near the Tribune editorial page.

Consistency is the Hobgoblin of the Tribune's Creepy Cartoonist

The Chicago Tribune's Creepy Cartoonist was none too happy to see President Obama dragging his feet before going to war with Libya. From last week ...

Chicago Tribune, 03/18/2011

The next day the Creepy Cartoonist reminds everyone that Obama waited too long to pull the trigger ...

Chicago Tribune, 03/19/2011

What does the Creepy Cartoonist think this week? Ha ha, Obama is a war-monger:

Chicago Tribune, 03/25/2011

Your LakeCountyEye just has to ask, did Barack Obama run over the Creepy Cartoonist's dog with his Cadillac Yukon or something? Why does the Creepster have it in for the POTUS?

Elephant Joke

Fans of the Chicago Tribune's Creepy Cartoonist should be familiar with his Elephant-in-the-Room gags. The Elephant-in-the-Room is always some big-government outrage; and the outrage is symbolized by a drawing of some large, endangered African land mammal. Readers of this blog will recall ...

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist Oblivious to Elephant in the Room

where the outrage was the BLOATED GOVT DEFICIT, and the endangered land mammal was the African Black Rhinoceros.

Sharp-eyed operatives noticed, however, that the Elephant-in-the-Room is never actually a drawing of an elephant. The reason seems to be the elephant is the mascot of the Republican party. And if he used the GOP's mascot to represent government bloat, the Creepy Cartoonist might be drummed out of his secret skull'n'bones cabal ... or worse ... or something. So the creepster's drawings are limited in scope to rhinoceroses, gorillas, hippopotamuses, and other non-elephantine, large, endangered land mammals.

Of course, there is a reason that all these large, African land mammals are endangered. That reason being they will all be extinct within your lifetimes. And any sharp-eyed operative knows this means that sooner or later the Creepy Cartoonist will have a problem. Sooner or later there will be no large land mammals left to symbolize bloated government -- besides the elephant. So, for instance, the next time the Creepy Cartoonist is outraged by big government, as in ...

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist vs the 800 lb Elephant

there may not be any, say, Eastern Lowland Gorillas left to draw, and he may be compelled by the vicissitudes of cruel nature to use an actual elephant to represent bloated government.

Of course the thought of being forced to use an elephant on the printed page to symbolize out-of-control Illinois pensions is enough to make the heads of many Lake County natives explode. So with the snow yet to be shovelled off the walk, and in the interest of not creating any more clean-up work than necessary, your LakeCountyEye suggests that operatives take solace in this Northwest Herald story ...

Legislators write pension rules and cash in

It turns out that some high profile Illinois Republicans are doing quite well for themselves by way of that bloated Illinois pension system:

• Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka: $145,727
• Former Gov Jim Edgar: $130,925
• Former Gov James Thompson: 127,215
• Former State Sen Jack Schaffer: $96,126
• Former State Sen William Peterson: $91,007

None of these pensioners seem any worse for wear from the cognitive dissonance generated by the intersection of the GOP and their bloated government pensions. Why should you be expected to show any symptoms of cranial distress either?

In fact, the same Illinois pension system even bankrolls the anti-government incendiaries at the McHenryCountyBlog:

• Former State Rep Cal Skinner: $77,506

Operatives are advised to stay indoors. Your LakeCountyEye's head be exploding.

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist vs the 800 lb Elephant

Fans of the Chicago Tribune's Creepy Cartoonist know when they see a endangered African land mammal in one of the creepster's drawings, it means one thing: the endangered species depicted is supposed to represent evil government bloat. Operatives may recall one cartoon where the scapegoat was the endangered Black Rhinoceros ...

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist Oblivious to Elephant in the Room

Now the Creepy Cartoonist's crosshairs are aimed at the Eastern Lowland Gorilla ...

Chicago Tribune, 02/10/2011

which he tags with the label PENSIONS. Your LakeCountyEye surmises the GORILLA is supposed to represent the Illinois pension system, more specifically its obligations -- pension obligations ignored & exacerbated by previous Illinois administrations with names like Thompson, Edgar, Ryan, Blagojevich. And who are the recipients of these pension obligations? Your LakeCountyEye will only say that the Creepy Cartoonist chose to represent them as a gorilla. Operatives are asked to do their own math.

For your LakeCountyEye, the real elephant in this room is the lack of an elephant in the room. If the common phrase is "the Elephant in the room" then why does the Creepy Cartoonist want to talk about the Gorilla in the room? The African & Asian Elephants are large, endangered land mammals -- and would seem to completely satisfy to the Creepy Cartoonist's requirements for a threatening behemoth to represent government excess. Oh wait a minute, the Elephant is the symbol of the Republican Party. Ha ha, nevermind.

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist Wants to Know: Hu's in Jail?

The Chicago Tribune's creepy cartoonist imagines a dinner conversation between Chinese President Hu Jintao and Chicago's Mayor Daley:

Hu: In glorious motherland we send counter-revolutionary Packers to detention camp.
Daley: That's a great suggestion President Hu ... but I'm pretty sure we can't jail the Packers.

Chicago Tribune, 01/21/2011

Ha ha, sure we can. Someone in the White House declares the Packers enemy combatants. And off they go to Guantanamo. Perfectly legal.

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist Asks ... Who Would Win in a Fight: Abe Lincoln or the Grim Reaper?

The Chicago Tribune creepy cartoonist is back, with more trademark corn on the macabre. This time the creepy cartoonist has Illinois's death penalty in his crosshairs:

Chicago Tribune, 01/10/2011

One would expect a hairtrigger 2nd Amendment proponent like the creepy cartoonist to favor a death penalty. Not so, apparently. Your LakeCountyEye speculates that the creepy cartoonist takes his moral instruction from the Vatican. This may also explain all the Hieronymus-Bosch imagery in his drawings. This drawing in particular depicts a Lincolnesque figure banishing the death penalty from Illinois. However the actual law abolishing the death penalty is not a Republican or even a bi-partisan bill. The bill now sitting on the Governor's desk is mostly the work of the Democrats. The Chicago Tribune creepy cartoonist will point his finger at the Springfield Democrats when they pass legislation he doesn't like. But when the Democrats pass a law that he favors, the creepy cartoonist praises the people of Illinois. Consistency must be the hobgoblin of little minds?

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist: I'm In Ur Internetz Stealin Ur Ideaz

It may be that he is out of ideas. Or tired of the fear-mongering. Or simply wishes to grow beyond his artistic limitations. What else explains the Chicago Tribune Creepy Cartoonist's out-of-character stab at political humor?

Chicago Tribune, 11/26/2010

Just between you and your LakeCountyEye, the joke was funnier when it was a lolcat ...

Cheezburger Network

Your LakeCountyEye, however, is still trying to figure out where Woody Allen fits in all this ...

Woody Allen

Creepy Cartoonist Caricature

Woody must be easy to draw or something?

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist Oblivious to Elephant in the Room

If the Chicago Tribune Creepy Cartoonist is to be believed, the White House Oval Office got a makeover ...

Chicago Tribune, 09/02/2010

In this particular drawing, the elephant in the room is a pair of menacing African black rhinoceroses the renovators left behind. President Obama is beset by Tea-Party-talking-point bogeymen depicted as rhinoceroses sporting labels that say BLOATED GOVT and DEFICIT.

Now your LakeCountyEye is but a simple country blogger, and by no means a professional editorial cartoonist skilled in the semiotic art of conveying complex ideas in simple pictures. Nonetheless, if one's artistic aim was to depict the elephant in the room, wouldn't drawings of, well, elephants be apropos?

That would've been your LakeCountyEye's obvious choice. The elephant is the symbol of the GOP. The same GOP that bookended nearly a decade of self-serving government mismanagement and war -- and responsible for that BLOATED GOVT and the DEFICIT. This may be ancient history to some -- a year and a half already -- but an elephant never forgets!

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist: Draw Your Weapons

Your LakeCountyEye was disarmed by the latest drawing from the Tribune's Creepy Cartoonist ...

Chicago Tribune, 07/02/2010

A drawn-to-scale Chicago Mayor Richard M Daley is depicted taking a principled one-man-stand against a much better armed gun enthusiast ...

It may not be obvious to some Operatives, but the label Gun Violence in the cartoon is code for the Gun Lobby. For doubters, your LakeCountyEye has the exclusive documentary evidence ...

Peter & Repeater?
Gun Lobbyist	Wayne LaPierre
Creepy Cartoonist Depiction	Big Gun, Natl Rifle Assn

Wishing everyone enjoyed a safe and pleasant holiday weekend. Your LakeCountyEye spent the 4th shooting ...

a) Shooting off fireworks.
b) Shooting off your LakeCountyEye's mouth.
c) Shooting blanks.

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist Now Rated NC-17

Ordinarily the catcher flashes signs to the pitcher. This player seems to be flashing something else ...

Chicago Tribune, 06/17/2010

Is this what happens when a ballplayer drops a fly -- or are the Cubs playing an exhibitionist game?

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist Pretends Not to Care about Elena Kagan's Sexual Orientation

Does anyone think the (predictably creepily drawn) Senate Judiciary Committee will go anywhere near the whole lesbian thing? And with a ten foot pole? The only ones who care about these things are the right-wing blogs & talk-radio, where the sexual orientation of any nominee to high post is so much grist for their mills. Of course this didn't stop the Chicago Tribune from bringing up the issue -- and being shocked that anyone would bring up the issue.


Chicago Tribune, 05/19/2010

Operatives may be wondering: Well howcome your LakeCountyEye is bringing up the issue? The answer is: Keyword Stuffing. It is well known that web traffic can be doubled, tripled even, just by the judicious insertion of a few performance enhancing keywords into a website. While the precise identity of these keywords are closely held industry secrets, your LakeCountyEye is privy to insider information of this as well as diverse other provenance.

Experts agree, the one keyword always guaranteed to boost the web-stats of even the most moribund website is: LESBIAN. Other high yield keywords include LESBIANISM, LESBIANS and LEBANESE. As well as LESBIAN. And LESBIAN¹.

References

---

¹Lesbian.

Creepy Tribune Cartoonist Doubles Down; Draws Yet Another Creepy Cartoon

Read it and creep ...

Chicago Tribune, 05/06/2010

... the horror ... the horror ...